


A Call to Remember

by KeJae



Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27813466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeJae/pseuds/KeJae
Summary: During the ramp-up into the holiday season, Neal is placed undercover in a call center as a seasonal Customer Service Representative. This should be a breeze for a charming con man with secret agency training, right?
Comments: 20
Kudos: 59





	1. A Seasonal Assignment

*******

Outside the weather was turning crisper as the team was sitting about the conference room table watching the first flurries of the year drift lazily on the breeze. The weather had the mood of the room subdued so it was quiet beyond the rustling of papers and the general noise as the last of the team arrived to take their seats for the morning meeting and the distribution of new cases. 

“Alright, everyone is here,” Peter stated as he stood at the front of the room shifting the case files in his hands. 

The first part of the meeting wasn’t overly interesting as it was the typical updates and assignment of general cases. Then it got down to where Peter was holding a single file. 

“Today we’re starting a new case. Several cases of identity theft and financial fraud have been traced back to a local customer service agency. Since this spans several states, this has been brought to us.” He put up the digital images on the screen showing the list of victims and the evidence trail that showed how the only point in common the victims had was the company based out of New York City. 

Continuing through the case, Peter explained, “We believe the facility has been stealing information from the customers they served and then selling it on the black market for profit. What we don’t know is who is involved and how the victims are chosen. Most of the transactions traced through the company seem to be handled legitimately so it's only a percentage that is illegal.” 

“How are we going to infiltrate?” Diana raised her hand with a smirk. Obviously, some unlucky person was going to be getting a job. 

“Hughes and I already drew straws, so to speak, and someone is going to be applying for a position. The rest of you will be either working your cases or providing support.” Peter saw at the downcast expressions and sidelong glances as the team tried to avoid drawing attention to  themselves . 

Peter slid the folder and the rest of the team breathed a sigh of relief as it came to a stop in front of Neal. 

“Lucky me,” Neal flipped the folder around and opened it to see his profile. “Apparently, as Brendan, I have college loans to pay and I can’t get into my chosen field so I’ll be taking this job to help me get by.” Neal looked up with a disinterested expression, “Can I at least wear my suit?” 

“You can wear a suit; just choose a more realistic one for your role.” Peter chided as he dismissed the agents who didn’t need to be present. They were going forward with the operation and most wouldn’t be needed. 

*******

Going into his interview, Neal wore part of a suit with the slacks and shirt but he’d left the jacket at home. It was overly dressy for the job, but it played into his character role of someone looking for a more professional career while taking a temporary position through the season. 

Buzzing the door, he waited for someone to answer before he was let in and guided to a little side room down a back hallway. 

“Take a seat,” the woman directed for him to pull up the basic office chair that sat on one side of a simple desk while she took the matching chair on the other side where the computer was facing. “How about you tell me about yourself?” 

Keeping to his role, Neal talked very generally about his education and field of interest. Apparently, Brendan was having trouble breaking into the video game designer world, so he was looking for a seasonal job to help him get by. He managed to mix underachiever with capable, but he had to use his charm to make sure he appealed if he failed to balance it right. 

Continuing, she transitioned the conversation to what he would be doing if he got the job. 

There wasn’t anything to be concerned about; simply placing orders, generally assisting customers, and transferring anyone he couldn’t help to the appropriate department. He needed basic computer skills and people skills. Both of which he had extensive experience and training in. 

“That sounds straight forward enough,” Neal was confident and sure he could do the job. This wouldn’t be anything like working for the CIA or FBI! 

Finishing the interview, Neal tried to show more interest in the job than he felt by coming up with minor questions before he was escorted out of the building. 

*******

Neal was sitting in Peter’s office discussing a case when his phone rang. 

Answering, it was the customer service agency calling to inform him that he had the job. He was advised when the training class was and how long the duration would be. 

Ending the call, he shook his head and frowned at Peter’s chuckle. “Ha-ha, laugh it up  fuzzball ,” he threw a nerdy line at his friend. It was something a video game designer would do. He knew, he had a computer engineering degree and had once dreamed of designing video games and it was something he would say if he were performing as himself. 

“Where is that from? Are you talking in character?” Peter cocked his head at him curiously. 

Sighing, Neal knew Peter would probably give him a hard time, but then he decided it was a good thing. It would be a chance to experience what it would be like to be himself with his friend without fully exposing himself to any teasing. “It’s a Star Wars quote, something a video game designer would know.” 

“Releasing your inner nerd?” Peter smiled at him as he looked up from the file he was working on. 

Shrugging, Neal couldn’t admit that he was a nerd, so he wasn’t sure how to approach the conversation. “Who says I have an inner nerd?” He decided to question why Peter thought he was a nerd. 

“Everyone has an inner nerd; some are just  nerdier than others.” Leaning back in his chair, Peter looked contemplative, “You know, I wonder if you’re  nerdier than we’d expect. It would be surprising, and yet, not. You’re very good at keeping secrets when you want to.” 

Trying not to react too strongly, Neal decided to go with a secretive smirk. “It’s difficult to say. What if I am  nerdier than you’d ever imagine?” 

“Actually, I don’t think I’d be surprised by that,” Peter answered with a contented smile. 

Cocking his head, Neal was intrigued. Peter seemed like he’d appreciate him being a nerd? 

It was Peter’s turn to shrug, “I may not be into Sci-Fi, but I’m a nerd in my own way.” 

Smiling, Neal wasn’t surprised, Peter was a nerd. “You are a nerd, who else would be so touchy about their crossword puzzles! Don’t worry though; I can appreciate a good nerd. It’s part of what makes you so adorable.” Then he beamed at Peter’s frustrated glare. 

Grumbling, “I’m not adorable... only Elizabeth is allowed to say anything like that.” Peter’s mood seemed to be falling towards kicking Neal out of his office. 

“You’re right, you’re not adorable, you’re a big intimidating agent with a quark for crossword puzzles,” Neal continued to tease. He wanted to share more of who he was, but it wasn’t allowed, so he changed the focus to teasing his friend but he’d pushed the line too far with the adorable bit.

“That’s more like it,” Peter’s mood drifted back from the edge, and Neal didn’t feel like risking anything else. 

*******

Going through the training course wasn’t difficult for Neal. 

He showed up for his scheduled class and was directed into a back room with tables lined in rows. Each one had computers with call center desk phones attached to headsets. Small piles of scratch paper and pens were also lined up at each spot for anyone who needed them. 

Pulling out an office chair by the name tag for ‘Brendan,’ Neal settled in but wasn’t worried about needing to keep track of information. This wasn’t going to be difficult. 

When the class began, the trainer started by sharing the general story of the company hiring him and the history of the company they represented. 

Once the basics had been shared, the actual training began with a projector used to show how to log into the computers, what programs to pull up, and then the general use of how they functioned. 

Next, the class was walked through potential scenarios and was instructed on how they were to handle each situation per the company’s policies and their particular training as seasonal employees. Most of it wouldn’t be too challenging, and anything beyond their realm was to be transferred to more specialized associates who were year-round employees of the main company. 

As the end of the training drew nearer, they were given scripts and assigned role-playing with each other before moving into their final testing. 

This entailed of a written test showing their understanding of the materials and live phone work to prove that they could indeed do the job when they were actively out on the floor. 

Most of the class seemed to handle the tasks fairly well, but one student fled the room to be sick from the stress before ultimately leaving the building. 

*******

"How did training go? Need any computer tips?” Jones asked Neal as he sat waiting for final confirmation as to whether he got the job or not. 

“No, I’m fine, Jones. The job isn’t hard and the training took things slow. They showed us how to log into the computers,” he looked up at his friend. “I know how to log into a  computer, I just needed the login and password.” 

“That’s got to be boring,” Jones was making general conversation while going through his file. 

“It gets worse, I have to wait until the entire class is caught up, and some of them are barely computer savvy.” Neal laid his head down on his desk in despair. Based on the initial introduction, he’d be bored to death by the job! 

Getting another call from the center, he was advised that he had the job and was given his first schedule. 

“ Yay ,” Neal sat the phone on his desk and raised his head to Jones’ suppressed laughter. 

“ Don’t laugh too hard, Braden might call you a  fuzzball ,” Peter commented in passing on his way by with a file. 

Rolling his eyes, Neal didn’t feel light  humored enough to rise to the bait. 

“Is it really that bad? What was the first call you were put on like?” Jones shifted his file aside and turned to talk for a few minutes. 

Leaning on his hand, Neal wasn’t remotely enthused by the job. “Okay, so I’m sitting in a room with two dozen people. Everyone is sitting only about two feet apart, so there isn’t room in between us. The room isn’t designed to muffle noise, and everyone is talking at once. Then a call comes through on the line. It’s  staticky , cuts out a little, and some woman is upset about something. I tried to hear her, I really did, but I have no idea what she wanted help with. Ultimately, she got more and more frustrated before she ultimately gave up and disconnected.” 

“Ouch,” Jones winced, “That sounds harsh. Did it get any better?” 

“Being able to hear the call? Yes, I was generally able to hear the rest of the calls, but I had to ask some to repeat themselves if the general noise canceled them out.  In general, no. It was a series of one call after another with barely enough time to take a breath in between. Most of it was the boring task of  placing orders. If they weren’t dull, then they were pretty much screaming at me from the time they came on the line until I was directed to transfer them to someone ‘more qualified.’” Neal rolled his eyes, he was more qualified than he seemed, but that didn’t matter.

“You probably don’t want to be qualified; then you’d have to deal with diffusing those situations,” Jones had a point. 

Nodding in acquiescence, Neal wasn’t looking forward to having to do the job full time. “Thankfully, this is just an assignment; it’s not something I actually have to do any longer than necessary.” 

“Keep that in mind, there are plenty of people out there who do that for a living,” Jones reminded him of those less fortunate. 


	2. A Long Day

******* 

His first official day wasn’t any better than Neal had expected. 

Arriving at the center a little before his shift was set to start, Neal met an associate in the front who showed him where an empty cubicle was and directed him to settle in and get started. 

Looking at his desk for the day, Neal wasn’t impressed. It was a basic cubicle of a desk surrounding by carpeted walls to muffle the sound with a simple chair. There was a computer, the commercial desktop phone, and some documents just in case he ran into particular situations or needed some scratch paper. It was even a little dusty since it wasn’t claimed by any single person to maintain it. 

With a sigh, Neal settled down to work. He had his water, a phone, and no desire to do this, but it was his assignment, so he didn’t have a choice. 

Signing in to the phone for his attendance, he then logged into the computer and got his programs up and running for the day. Since he was only going to be providing basic service, he didn’t need that much. 

When it was time, and certainly not before, he switched his phone into active to begin taking calls, 

“This is Brendan, how can I help?” He started with the generic greeting before introducing himself as the first call came through. Considering that the light on the phone was red, he knew there was a long line of customers waiting after this one. 

Stating that they wanted to place an order, the customer followed him through the steps of getting a file, ordering the products, and then they transitioned into the scripts leading into the close. 

Upselling, not a fun part of the job and one of the typical places where the customers got cranky about the suggested additions to their order, the extra offers, and then the sales pitch for the financial options they could get. 

“I’d just like to place my order,” the customer grumped, but Neal was required to go through the scripts as it was a part of the job and his employment would be terminated if he failed to comply, especially with the legal requirement to offer the financial options since the customer was preapproved. 

Managing to get through without pushing the customer over the edge, Neal got through the billing information and concluded the sale. “Thank you for calling,” he ended the conversation with a cheerful smile to his voice, but the customer just hung up and went on with his day. 

Hurrying to breathe before he had to start the script all over again, Neal was already getting short-winded. He had to talk a lot and talk fast, but of course, he couldn’t talk too fast or too much either. It was difficult to balance! 

One customer wanted their hand held through each step of the process, “Where do I find the item number?” while others were more inclined to state what they wanted and assume he knew their billing information off of their phone number, “You have my file.” 

*** 

When his break finally came around, Neal knew he needed to utilize the facilities and see what he could gather from a little snooping, but he also just wanted a break from people. 

Switching his phone off and locking his computer, Neal noted what time he was going on break. “They sure are strict...” he had to document when he was going on break and be back precisely at the end of his allotted time. 

Meandering his way past his fellow associates, Neal noticed that most people remained in their cubicle and focused on their tasks through their shifts. Considering the demanding line of customers that required attention that was easily understood, there wasn’t time for socializing. 

In the back hallways, he passed other associates moving to or from their desks. Most were either generally pleasant throwing out a nod of acknowledgment or a generic greeting without staying to hear his response. A few walked by on their phones having personal conversations with loved ones. The rest seemed to be seeking a break from talking so they dodged past in silence. 

The break room was a large space with tables and chairs scattered for eating, machines for snacks and drinks, a fridge for those who brought food from home, and a counter with a sink and microwaves for heating up or cleaning up. It wasn’t anything to brag about, but it was efficient for the employees. 

Listening to the general conversation of those gathered around the break room, Neal noticed that most of them were venting about their customers or gossiping about work-related topics. Few were having more personal conversations. 

“Uh, I’ve run into three products that wouldn’t go into the system right. I don’t know what to do about that so I just ended up transferring the customers up to customer service.” One complained and questioning if anyone else had encountered the same situation. 

“It’s a system issue, they got all new systems over the summer and some products are still glitching. Submit a report and add the customer’s information if they want to be contacted when it’s resolved,” another associate lowered their drink to advise some of what they’d learned. They’d encountered the same issue and had questioned the Help Desk on how to handle it. 

Taking note, Neal decided that he might need to know how to handle the issue. He’d inevitably encounter one of the glitchy items, and it didn’t hurt to know that the company had new systems over the summer since there might be other issues to contend with. 

Neal decided to break into the conversation, “There was a new system installed over the summer?” It went with his programming background that was both real and a part of his current character. 

“Yeah, it’s to install a more up to date system with better capacity. However, the transition phase, that’s what bites!” The second associate expanded the topic by elaborating on some of the other issues that she’d encountered. 

“Hey, what’s your name, handsome?” a young girl sauntered up to the table Neal was leaning against. 

It was a relief to stand after being stuck sitting still and in the same position. 

“Brendan, yours?” Neal wasn’t interested in the girl, but flirting a little wasn’t detrimental since building social connections would make it easier to gather information. 

“Dannielle,” she flirted with him, “Can I call you Bren?” 

“No, Brendan, Dan, or Danny, not Bren,” Neal shook his head. “I prefer Danny though,” he cocked his head as he realized it was a chance to use the name he’d grown up going by. 

“Well, Danny, you should take the cubicle next to me if you get the chance.” She smiled, she obviously wanted to spend more time with him, but it wasn’t like they’d be socializing even if they sat side by side every day for the duration of his stay. 

Not wanting to insult her, but yet working to discourage her, Neal shrugged noncommittally, “We’re seated at random.” 

Walking her fingers up his arm in a forward fashion, she pretended to be sad, “Too bad, I’d like to get to know you better.” 

Uncomfortable, Neal plastered on a smile and played along, “Yeah, too bad.” Fortunately, her break was over so she had to return to work, which reminded Neal that his time was drawing to a close as well. 

“Your first day?” an associate asked Neal to initiate their own conversation. 

“Yes, I’m just seasonal so I’ll be here until a week after Christmas,” actually, he’d be leaving far sooner, as soon as possible, but he wasn’t going to tell his temporary coworker that. 

“This is my second year working seasonally. It’s not easy, but it’s an easy job to get and it helps pay for the holiday expenses.” She looked like she was probably middle-aged as she talked about how her husband’s work covered the bills so she worked off and on for extra fun money. 

Learning more about the motivation that caused many of his coworkers to work there, Neal took it as an opportunity to gain insight into the people around him. Based on the brief conversation, a lot of them seemed to be getting extra money, working around complicated schedules, or getting what work they could to make the bills. No one seemed to aspire to the job, but some liked it well enough to remain. 

With his time running out, Neal moved back through the hallway and past his coworkers to his dreaded desk. 

He’d spent most of his time conversing in the break room so he knew that was the place to get gossip and general information, but it didn’t tell him how to find who was responsible for the thefts. 

It wasn’t like the perpetrators would talk in a large open space with people randomly traversing through every few minutes through most parts of the day. They’d go somewhere more private. Maybe he’d have better luck discerning the meeting spots on his lunch when he had more time? 

Settling back into his seat, Neal was disheartened to see the evil red light glaring at him from the phone. Sighing, he knew it was to be expected. It was the time of the year and there was no way the call volume would drop any time soon. 

Waking up his computer and switching his phone back on, he was a few seconds late but close enough to be allowable. 

***

Going back into the routine of scripting his way through one call after another, the day was slowly progressing until he got a live one. 

“I placed my order three days ago for two-day shipping and it hasn’t arrived, where is my order?” the customer came onto his line upset and demanding from the start. 

Attempting to calm her down, Neal asked if she had an order number and he’d look into it. 

Providing her order number, the customer repeated her story and demanded resolution again. 

She wasn’t making it easy, but Neal kept smiling even though he didn’t feel like it. 

As the spinning wheel turned, he wished the computer would load her file faster! 

When it finally pulled up, Neal saw that the order was shipping standard and had only just shipped. Why did she expect it to arrive within two days? 

“The product says it comes in two-day shipping but it hasn’t arrived,” she repeated. 

Trying not to sigh at her difficult behavior, Neal knew she wasn’t going to elaborate. 

Moving to investigate for himself, he pulled the product she’d ordered up on the website and read through the details while she told her story again. It wasn’t a rush shipped item and it had notes indicating that it couldn’t be rushed. 

Bringing up the evidence only got a repetition as she insisted that it was two-day shipping. 

Frustrated, Neal scanned a broader overview before he found the source of her ire. 

There was a banner ad at the top of the page advertising free rush shipping for any orders that applied. It was a typical gimmick used to attract sales because people were almost always happy to spend a little more for a free upgrade. 

Breaking down the situation with all of the evidence, even reading off of the page, Neal next found himself accused of false advertising on behalf of the company. 

However, since the banner had a link to the information clearly indicating that there were exceptions while the product itself specified that it wasn’t applicable, it wasn’t false advertising. How much plainer could it get? Sure people, needed to read the information, but that was a given with anything. 

Continuing to complain, the woman ultimately requested a higher level of customer service so that she could get something for the inconvenience of receiving the service she didn’t qualify for. 

Happy to comply, Neal simply transferred the line and went to the next customer. 

His day didn’t improve. 

This customer had purchased a simple item, but the file their order was under had a different name and was flagged fraud while they had never heard of the company he represented. He initially thought he might have the wrong file, but the shipping address was theirs and after hearing their story, he learned that they’d made a purchase through another online sales avenue from a single person seller. 

Based on his experience in the criminal underground, Neal recognized a triangle scam. A seller would go online and advertise a product for sale to an unfortunate buyer. Someone would purchase it. Then the seller would use a stolen credit card to purchase the item through a legitimate online retailer and send it to their buyer. Meanwhile, they’d pocket the sales from the buyer while leaving the buyer and the person owning the stolen credit card on the hook to resolve their theft. It was devious and clever, but a minor scam that didn’t pay out much unless done in mass. Then that attracted people like Peter... 

Apologizing to the customer, Neal transferred them on to someone who could help, because the fraud department dealt with such transactions on a daily bases, they’d know what needed to be done to resolve the situation. 

Moving onto the next customer, Neal continued to bounce between boring calls simply looking to place orders and more complicated problems. Most were easy enough to solve, he merely had to figure out who to transfer them to and then transfer them, but some were more difficult since he had to acquire enough details to make an informed decision. 

***

By the time lunch finally came around, Neal couldn’t believe that his day was only half done. He still had the duration of time to go through all over again! 

Clocking out since it wasn’t paid; Neal locked his computer since that was security protocol. Keeping in mind that the company had several measures in place to protect the personal information of their customers, the leaks weren’t accidental, someone was intentionally stealing the data and slipping past the measures somehow. 

Then he went to the break room and purchased a bland sandwich to eat standing up by one of the tables. 

He didn’t take long to eat it, it wasn’t a particularly good sandwich and he had other things to do besides eat. 

Evaluating his options, there weren’t any interesting conversations in the break room that he could use to gather information, just the generic gossip about customers and situations on the floor or personal things for those who knew each other. 

Deciding to utilize another pastime, Neal chose to take a walk through the back hallways. It gave him a chance to exercise after remaining in the same attitude for hours, he could have some quiet after non-stop talking, and he could see where someone might be getting around the security measures by roaming where employees went in their personal time. 

Most of the back space was uninteresting. In addition to the break room and restrooms, there was the training room, a meeting room, janitorial closet, and conference room for management. The center of the space had the management offices and interview rooms while the rest of the main floor was rows of cubicles filled with staff working. 

The weather was too chilly to go outside voluntarily for most people, but there was a back patio for those who wished to get out in decent weather or who had habits that weren’t allowed inside. 

Continuing his trek through the inside route around the public areas, Neal noted that one of the interview rooms was occupied. Were they still hiring, was it a meeting, or was that how someone was smuggling information out? 

He considered calling Peter but didn’t feel like talking on the phone. Instead, he chose to play on his phone while pacing around the hallway to see who was using the room and what was transpiring inside. 

After a few minutes, the door opened and a trainer he recognized from his class exited while another employee left to return to their desk and work. 

“Brendan, isn’t it?” The trainer approached him. 

“Yes,” Neal tried to remember their name and asked if they were still hiring. If the team needed to get someone else in, that would be useful information. 

“There is still a seasonal class that is being filled. If you refer a friend, there is a bonus in it for both of you,” she passed him a flyer from the nearby bulletin board. 

That didn’t explain what had been going on in the room, so Neal spent a bit of time making general conversation to see what he could garner from her. 

When it was time to return to his desk for the next phase of his day, Neal had learned that the interview rooms were also used for one on one meetings with associates about how they were doing the work. Although it wasn’t specified, it was eluded to that that was what had been transpiring when he happened upon them. 

Suspicious, Neal thought the meetings would be held by someone more official. The trainer had said that she taught to help get a break from the floor before the season hit in full. Had he found his suspects, or was there something else going on? 

Mulling on it, Neal put it on the backburner as he returned to his desk and resumed the dreaded task of taking calls. 

The task had nothing helpful to his goal and it was exhausting to have to talk so much by going through the script every five minutes or so. Then, if he wasn’t going through the routine of placing orders, he was having to talk someone down from their upset at least once an hour, or at least, that’s what it felt like. 

***

Crawling through the blink that was the next few hours, Neal felt like time both crawled and rushed until his next and final break came around. 

Repeating his new routine, Neal used the rest of the time that he had to go outside and check out the activity on the back patio. 

Most of those present were smoking, but a few were trying to enjoy the outdoors and get away from the noise of the floor with the change for the noise of the city. 

Rubbing his hands together, Neal knew it was chilly so it wasn’t ideal to remain outside for long. 

Making conversation with his coworkers in the time he had, Neal didn’t learn anything useful from the talk. Mostly, they were discussing the weather and how uncomfortable it made them to be outside in it. 

Excusing himself, Neal used the need to return indoors towards the end of his break to get away. 

Back inside, he noticed one guy standing at a table talking to a young girl. Although he seemed to be being light and friendly, there seemed to be something odd about the conversation. The man was older with a receding hairline, but he was talking at the level of the young girl, almost flirting with her. 

Making another note, Neal decided to keep an eye on the guy. 

Then he returned to his desk for the final stretch. 

***

Getting a customer who was older and wanted to chat, Neal tried to go through his script, halfheartedly, but the man wasn’t to be discouraged. He wanted to talk about his hobbies and the finite details of how he kept himself occupied. 

Giving up after a few minutes, Neal gladly relinquished his time to slowly crawl through the call while enjoying the old-timer's conversation. He was informative and he didn’t complain once. That was a win in Neal’s book, plus, he took up time reducing how much longer he had to remain on the phones in general. 

After a while, the call was dragging on, so Neal started listening to his neighbors and took the chance to stretch and glance around the dividing walls to see what they were doing. 

To one side, his neighbor was busy going through the calls as quickly as they could. His other side was an associate who was slowly traversing the calls, but they weren’t as quick with computer steps. Then the third, he was taking notes on a piece of paper while the customer talked. Was he keeping notes of things to help the customer, or was he noting their personal information to share with someone else? 

He couldn’t see who they were or their face, but Neal decided to make an effort to see their name or face as soon as possible while adding something else to look into. 

Physically writing the information and then walking out the door would circumvent all of the digital security. Although whoever was doing it would have had to get through their background checks first, but that didn’t prevent a small timer or a new criminal from slipping through who hadn’t been caught yet. 

As the call finally wound down, Neal had to focus more again as he went through the closing scripts to finish the transaction. 

Sadly, that transitioned him into the regular calls again until the end of his shift. 

***

When the day finally came to a close, Neal was unable to sign off until he finished his last call, but he pulled his line to ensure that he wouldn’t be stuck in the call lineup any longer than necessary. 

Once he finished his call, Neal was able to sign off of his phone, close out the programs, and log out of the computer. Then he picked up his meager possessions and retreated from the cubicle as quickly as possible. He was free! 

Making a last trip through the backrooms to see who was about, Neal was able to note the face of his neighbor, noted the middle-aged guy flirting with a different young girl, and saw the trainer also leaving for the night. His primary suspects all in one place and no one was doing anything to help indicate if they were the ones guilty or how they were going about smuggling the information. 

Calling it a night, he slipped out of the building and went home to the loft. 

***

Curling up, he was glad to relax and do his own thing rather than constantly be bombarded with customers. 

To his dismay, his phone rang. Peter was calling to check in on him. 

“How was your first day?” Peter asked, but there were the sounds of Elizabeth and Satchmo in the background, so he was clearly at home going about his own evening activities. 

“Can I have some cold cases, something?” Neal tried to ask if there was anything that he could do in the office, anything outside of call center work. 

Chuckling, Peter was amused, “That desperate, huh?” 

“You have no idea,” Neal knew he’d have plenty to complain about if he got started, so it was best to avoid that. 

Not going down that route either, Peter asked him if he’d gotten any useful information. 

“The best theory I’ve come up with is that someone is physically writing information down about customers on the pretext that they’re keeping records for the completion of the transaction. However, instead of blacking it out and shredding it as they’re supposed to, they’re taking it out of the office or handing it off. Physical records are the easiest way to get information out, there are too many safeguards and security measures to do anything digitally.” Neal laid out the general implications of what he assumed was the method the crime was being committed, but who was guilty, that was something he hadn’t narrowed down yet. 

“Any suspects yet?” Peter noted his theory, but they would need to confirm more information before they’d be able to pursue the suspects. 

Shrugging, Neal knew Peter wouldn’t see that, but he didn’t know if any of them were worth mentioning. “Not exactly, there was a trainer, Aggie, and an associate having a meeting, an associate was writing down information, and there is one that seems to have an interest in young girls, but they might have nothing to do with our case.” 

“True, but if they strike you as being someone of interest, your instincts are probably picking up on something. Keep your eyes open and we’ll see what happens.” Peter encouraged and it sounded like he was taking notes of the names Neal had managed to get with the encouragement to get more names so that they could investigate further. 

Ending the call, Peter went on with his evening while Neal returned to his efforts to relax. In the morning, he had another shift to get back to, and it would probably be just as tiring. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone, for reading, reviewing/commenting, following, leaving kudos, and choosing to favorite :D  
> Today was my last day. It was surreal and bittersweet... after more than thirteen years, one last jerk to remind me why I'm glad to go, and a lot of well-wishes from people who reminded me why I'd stayed for so long. What's next, I don't know, time will tell.


	3. Growing Fatigue

******* 

The rest of the week went much the same. Neal remained busy from the time he sat down until the time he was able to escape through breaks or lunch until the day ended. 

Each day he got more and more tired of dealing with the general public and he better understood the comments people made in the break room about John Q Public. There were plenty of stories of unnecessary behavior that associates had encountered and they had a tendency of venting and gossiping amongst themselves. 

However, he was also integrating himself with his fellow associates since he was able to join the gossip by talking about his own encounters and pointing out the scams and manipulative tactics he encountered far too often for comfort. How many criminals were getting away with their crimes because they were too petty and too common to pursue? 

Amongst his coworkers, the easiest one to integrate himself with was Danielle. She was interested in him and their first break often crossed over which provided her a daily opportunity to interact with him. 

Deciding to play up a bit of a bad boy character, Neal hinted at the need for more money to pay off his loans while dancing around stories of a hacking history. He had plenty of material to use from his university days, but that was further behind him than his coworkers seemed to think. 

He noticed that the more Danielle seemed to approve of him, the more the trainer, Aggie paid attention to him. 

This made him wonder if they were connected and possibly the suspects he was looking for. However, on initial appearance, they didn’t seem like the suspects he would expect. That was more like the guy who kept flirting up young girls and giving off the creepy vibe. 

Still, he didn’t rule anyone out and continued to collect names, routines, and compile an understanding of how people moved throughout the facility. 

******* 

Sitting in the conference room for a team meeting on one of his days off, Neal just wanted to go down to his desk and be left alone. He was bored and wasn’t inclined to spend one of his days off listening to Peter drone on about what other agents were doing. It didn’t directly apply to him, so why did he have to be present? 

“Neal,” Peter barked getting Neal’s attention. 

Looking around, Neal realized that the team had mostly cleared out, but Peter was picking up his files while Diana was laughing at him. 

“They wear you out that badly? I’d think a confidence man like you could handle a bunch of people looking for general customer service?” Diana was smiling at him in amusement as she teased. 

Frowning at her, Neal could understand her perspective; it was what he’d initially thought himself until he was actually in the seat. “You’d be surprised how many common people are proficient at using verbal means of manipulation, aggression, and abuse. It’s like facing another con artist every little while with a bunch of basic John Qs in between.” 

“It’s not pleasant being on the other side, is it?” Peter was softer in his approach as he questioned what lessons Neal might be learning from sitting in the seat of those who are constantly dealing with small-time con artists. 

Neal turned his frown onto Peter, even if he was the character he portrayed, he didn’t appreciate being put in a class with these people. He had more class, he wasn’t petty enough to go after things like twenty-dollar gift cards, and he wasn’t cruel enough to make people miserable, they usually enjoyed talking to him when he was undercover as Neal. “Don’t associate me with them, that’s insulting.” 

Peter seemed to want him to get something out of the conversation, but he didn’t elaborate at the time. Maybe he was waiting for the intended lesson to sink in? 

“How busy do you think we’d be if we pursued all of the ones you’ve encountered?” Diana asked, but she clearly had no idea what kind of a rabbit hole she was asking him to go down. 

Sighing, Neal started to consider what the numbers might be, but then he decided that wouldn’t be a good conversation topic. Another one based on his experience in customer service. “Oh, I don’t want to take the time to calculate and go into that, let alone put in the time to pursue them....” His mind took off into rats and what it would be like chasing them as they scattered... unpleasant. 

“Something bothering you?” Diana asked. 

“I’m imagining chasing rats... and, yes, it’s unpleasant and bothering me.” Neal rolled his eyes up to look at her from where he’d resorted to leaning on his hand. Based on the inspiration, he started sketching a rat on the piece of paper in front of him. 

“Alright, enough teasing. Anyone who has ever done such menial work knows that people can be downright cruel and demeaning. It’s not nice to rub it in.” Peter interjected before Diana could any more comments. 

“Thanks,” Neal grumbled. It was truly a demeaning job with the way people treated him which made it unpleasant and he didn’t appreciate it. 

Patting his shoulder, Peter tried to provide comfort before sending Neal back to his desk. He still had some work to do for the FBI despite his additional job at the call center. 

******* 

Working yet another shift, Neal was droning through his day when he got a customer looking for his order. Pulling his file up, Neal started checking on the order. 

“I haven’t received any tracking and I don’t know when to expect my package,” the customer elaborated with a story about the importance of knowing when his order would arrive and how he wasn’t home. 

Verifying the tracking and confirming that it had been delivered that morning, Neal was about to advise the customer that he should check for it when he got home. 

“It hasn’t arrived,” the customer was adamant and certain. 

Shaking his head in question, Neal wondered what the customer was up to? How did he know it hadn’t arrived when only a few moments before he was complaining about not knowing where it was? Then it dawned on Neal. It was another one, another scam. 

His theory was confirmed when the next words out of the customer’s mouth were the request for a refund. 

Rolling his eyes, Neal wasn’t remotely impressed. It was a basic scam and something that could easily be caught. Fortunately, he wasn’t to resolve lost shipments, so Neal advised that he’d need to submit a report and that his issue would be resolved by senior associates. 

Getting rid of the man, Neal got him off of his line with the promise that the issue would be resolved. Then he made sure he put notes down in the report on his conversation with the customer underlining how suspicious he sounded. Since this was encouraged, associates were supposed to go with their guts when something didn’t feel right, Neal figured he’d at least done his part. If the company chose to give the man a refund, then that wasn’t his problem. 

Continuing through his day, Neal had nothing else to note until the internet went down. That meant that he couldn’t access any of his programs to work. Unfortunately, it had no effect on the phone as it was a hard landline. 

Asking his customer if he could put them on hold for a moment, Neal advised that his internet had gone out so he was going to check on how to proceed. The customer just grumbled, but he complied well enough since he’d waited so long to get someone, he might as well wait a little longer to see how to handle his situation. 

Based on the pad of paper full of ordering forms, Neal guessed that they were going old school to pencil and paper. ‘Yippee,’ he thought sarcastically to himself, and his neighbors confirmed his theory by pulling out forms while senior associates started walking the aisles and handing out pieces of other pads to anyone who didn’t have a pad already on their desk. 

With a sigh, Neal retrieved the piece of pad that was at the back of his desk and tested the first pen he found. It didn’t work so it was the second that he ultimately ended up using. 

Retrieving his customer, Neal offered to either continue to take his order on paper, or he advised that the customer could call back later. 

“I’ll call back later, I don’t want to leave my information down on paper,” the customer declined the options before hanging up. 

Considering why he was doing the job, Neal couldn’t blame him. That also made him wonder how many unsuspecting customers might be victimized with this mass collection of data on paper? 

That gave him an idea, Neal put himself into an idle pretending to need to use the restroom although it wasn’t his break yet. Leaving his computer locked, he got up and meandered his way towards the backrooms on his pretend errand. As he went, he glanced around and noticed that most were diligently taking orders as they were instructed and then turning them into the associates who went about collecting them. 

What unnerved Neal was when he saw Aggie accept a pile of order forms. Each one would have contained customer personal information. If she was guilty, that just gave her a pile of information to copy and sell on the black market. 

Managing to slip past her, Neal caught sight of the name of the top customer. Using his phone, he distracted her with a few quick questions about what would happen to the physical forms while he snapped a picture of the visible information. 

If the name turned up as a victim, that could help in building the case against the associates involved in the frauds. 

“I’d like to talk to you later,” Aggie directed before she had to be on her way. 

Making arrangements, Neal continued on his way to the restroom to keep up his role, but he used his time to text the image to Peter as a name to watch out for. 

Returning to his desk, Neal managed to make it through until they got the internet back up. Then some were pulled from main calls to manually key the orders in off of the forms and for calling customers back if any additional information was needed. Due to the number of orders, that was going to take a few hours for the staff to catch up on. 

Neal only wished that he had managed to collect more data on the names... and that he was one of the ones pulled to enter the orders. 

Unfortunately, he had to remain working until the day ended. 

Signing off, he met Aggie outside on the back patio for a conversation as they walked to where she parked her car. 

“Danielle speaks very highly of you,” Aggie didn’t elaborate so Neal didn’t know what had been said. 

Not responding, Neal waiting for Aggie to get to the point. 

“She feels you might be interested in receiving our arrangement as well,” she wasn’t being specific, but Neal was glad he’d activated the recording pen. It might well be implicating both Danielle and Aggie, depending on what Aggie went on to say. 

“I know someone, who likes to receive names and information, general things that customers give to us every call, and he pays well for them.” She was getting more specific, but Neal still needed more information. 

“How much does he pay?” Neal asked the obvious question that someone checking the risk would want to know. 

Stating a fairly large amount, Neal understood why others were going to be tempted to get involved. 

Nodding, Neal pretended to be interested and asked her to say more. 

Going through the arrangement, she just asked that he pass her customer information, and then she’d slip the money back to him the next time. 

Knowing that was sufficient information to take her down; Neal wondered if she’d be gullible enough to give away her compatriots, “Would I be working with anyone if you’re out of the office?” 

“No, Danielle and Alex just get information when they can and pass me slips of paper every few days when we manage to cross paths.” She was gullible enough to share the information, which Neal was grateful for, but that meant that he had one more suspect to look for. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Neal didn’t specify that he would steal names, but it would come off that way since Aggie was looking for him to. 

“You’ll find it rewarding,” Aggie stating before diverting off for her car. 

“That’s what you think,” Neal muttered before heading towards Peter’s. 

******* 

Arriving at the Burkes, Neal knew that his friend would appreciate the recording, but he wasn’t looking forward to talking to Elizabeth. She’d probably have questions about how online shopping was going for the season... not a conversation that Neal was looking forward to, but he also knew that Elizabeth would appreciate being able to have a connection to the case. 

When Peter opened the door, Neal passed him the pen and then walked in past him. 

“Come on in, Neal,” Peter teased while looking at the pen. 

Going to sit on the couch and lean his head against the back, Neal waited for Peter to press the button and listen to the recording of Aggie as she confessed to her involvement in the crime. 

“Good, that’s a huge step towards resolving the case. Tomorrow we’ll go to work on the next step of the investigation. Do you have any idea who this Alex is?” Peter asked as he came over and took a seat. 

Shaking his head, Neal had no idea who Alex was, he had already mentioned Danielle in his reports. 

“Oh, hi, Neal.” Elizabeth, greeted as she came walking in drying her hands on a towel. “Want to join us for dinner?” 

“And I think he might be borrowing the guest room again too,” Peter smiled as Neal tried to get enough energy to get up off of the couch. 

It seemed like a long way to the table. Frankly, he probably would be okay with borrowing their guest room. It would be easier than going back to the loft for the night, and then they could go straight to the office in the morning. 

“Come on,” Peter stood and gave him a hand up before patting him on the back. 

“Thanks,” Neal managed before making the trip across the room to join them for dinner. It wasn’t the first time, but it was the most tired he’d felt being at their place for dinner. 

Walking with him, Peter seemed to be amused, but he kept his smiles directed at his wife. 

Settling down to eat, they started into their usual conversation about their days, but this time it had a twist. Elizabeth wanted to know how Neal’s day had gone. 

Being polite, Neal just gave the generals of the day without going into details about the annoying customers he’d contended with. 

“Is shipping backed up with delays?” Elizabeth asked as she worked on her meal. 

“Yes, but not badly. I’m sure it will get worse before the holidays, and I’m so glad I won’t be in customer service then!” Neal stated as he tiredly moved his food around on his plate. 

Grinning, Elizabeth, like the others, seemed to be amused by his predicament. 

“What’s the worst customer you’ve ever had?” She continued to questions him. 

“I can’t name one customer, only three forms of behavior, the aggressive, the abusers, and the manipulators. They annoy me the most.” Neal grumbled as he worked on his meal, but he was slow to eat between fatigue and frustration. 

Smiling over at Peter, Elizabeth seemed to be sharing the silent secret of whatever had Peter smiling. 

Appreciating their camaraderie, Neal continued to eat his meal only talking when he was questioned. Although Elizabeth asked basic shopping-related questions that would apply to any online retailer, Neal didn’t like the reminder of his second job. Still, he gave her some tips based on what he’d learned. “Call early or late since during the main day has higher call volume, be prepared to wait... for everything, shopping online where you can shop for sales and coupons is a good way to go, and you can always email someone if you want assistance researching as long as you aren’t in a rush to get a response, but make sure you provide enough detail for them to know what you want.” Neal shrugged, that was the best he could think of. 

“Just as long as no one calls you?” Peter smiled as he asked. 

Neal hadn’t realized that, but he liked the idea. Cocking his head appreciatively at Peter, he nodded, “I’d go for that any day.” 

“Wouldn’t that eliminate work?” Elizabeth looked at him. 

“Someone would have to answer all of those emails, and there would still be plenty of reasons for people to be there. Besides, people would never stop calling,” too many people asked questions that were plainly on the page in front of them, people would call simply to have someone read the text in front of them out loud to them. 

“Is it that bad?” Elizabeth asked as she was finishing her meal. 

“I’ve only been there a week, and the answer is, yes, it is that bad.” Neal nodded to her, “I’ve literally read things to customers who couldn’t seem to read the page in front of them beyond the product title. Then again, other customers call, tell me what they want, and then expect me to shop for them. They only give me the barest information and pay for the order in the end.” 

“Well, there are people who can’t read, and others who are computer illiterate,” Elizabeth knew that there was a reason customer service had such a large industry. 

“Don’t I know it,” Neal grumbled. 

Taking pity on him, Elizabeth finally changed the subject to whether or not anyone wanted dessert. 

Declining, Neal wasn’t hungry; he was more tired than anything and looking forward to when the assignment ended. 

“Go on, why don’t you settle in the guest room and get some sleep.” Peter invited him to remain for the night. Although he’d mentioned it earlier, this was an actual invitation. 

“Thanks, I could sleep on your couch right now.” Neal really felt like he could 

Chuckling again, Peter got up and decided to walk him upstairs. “Come on, Neal. You should get some sleep.” 

“Why am I so tired? Seriously, I’ve done things far more difficult than this...” he wasn’t elaborating, but he really had. 

“Sometimes it’s not the work itself but the amount of it that gets you. A single call could be handled, but hundreds of them add up.” Peter commented, and that was probably the point. 

It wasn’t a single call that made him tired; it was having to take them one right after the other, all day, day after day! “True, oh so very true. Then I have to work for the FBI too,” which certainly didn’t help his fatigue. He had reports and meetings to do before and after his shifts at the call center. Since he’d been placed full time to get as much information as possible, that made for a full schedule. 

“Just get some sleep; the assignment will be over soon.” Peter encouraged as he left him at the door to the guest room before going back downstairs to help his wife clean up. 

Knowing his way around, Neal was soon ready and slipping into bed. He hoped he wouldn’t dream of calls and systems again, he just wanted a relaxing night's sleep before he had to go back to the grindstone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone, for reading, leaving kudos, commenting/reviewing, and following, :D


	4. Freedom from the Calls

*******

His next few days were more focused on checking name tags and asking about people. Although Neal tried to play it off as curiosity, he was looking for the elusive Alex. The problem was, they might not even work during the day,  there were night shifts too which would be an issue if he couldn’t figure out who their third person was. 

*******

It was mid-week the following week when Neal finally was relieved to hear one of his neighbors greet an Alex as they crossed paths when one left for break and Alex arrived. 

Going into an idle quickly as his call ended, Neal took advantage of the chance to stand and stretch to look around and see who Alex was. 

Two spaces down from him, a guy was settling in. Recognizing him, it was the same guy he’d seen leaving a closed-door meeting with Aggie back on his first day! 

Getting a good look at his face, Neal could recognize him in a lineup, but it would help to get his last name so that the team could do further research. However, Alex had settled into his work and signing on so Neal couldn’t see him around the dividers. 

Locking his computer, Neal took a walk down the row playing on his phone where he conveniently snapped several photos as he walked past the space. He hoped there would be something visible that could help identify the man. 

Reaching the back hallways, he checked the pictures and noticed Alex’s ID badge had been taken off and was lying on the desk. That was against the rules, but if the guy was stealing customer information, the badge was the least of the company's problems. 

Sending the image to Peter with a note that it was the mysterious person from the first day, possibly their Alex, Neal advised the team to research to see if they could get any additional evidence. 

Knowing there was a limit on how long he could remain away from the phones, Neal was glad his time at the job was dwindling. 

*******

It was another few days before Neal managed to cross paths with Alex outside. 

Since it was a common place for Alex to go based on what Neal had smelled when he passed his seat and the cigarettes on his desk in the picture, Neal had been spending his free time on the patio in the hopes that they would meet. 

“I hear your name is Alex, I’m Brendan,” Neal introduced himself and tried to initiate conversation. 

“Danielle won’t shut about you, she thinks you're going to ask her out one of these days, or she’ll ask you if you take too much  longer,” Alex snorted. He wasn’t impressed, and maybe he was even a little jealous. 

Using that to his advantage, Neal tried to push him into talking, but Alex wasn’t initially inclined. Then they got to talking about hacking based on Neal’s stories and Alex became a talkative enthusiast. 

“Aggie thinks you might be able to get more information for us using your computer skills if you’re good enough to get away with it. Personally, I like the idea, a whole lot at once would be a good payday and then I could do something else. However, I’m not that good and could never pull it off.” Alex wasn’t a fan of their job either, but like many, he worked where he could get a job. 

“Danielle seems to think she’ll be able to afford to travel, she likes talking about romantic places to go someday.” Neal redirected the conversation back to their mutual contact in the hopes of gathering more information on the crime in general. 

“She only passes a little information here and there; I’m the main one that gathers data.” Alex waved off any commentary on her. Apparently, he liked her for her looks but felt she was weak since she wasn’t as avidly enthused about the crime as he was. 

Somehow, Neal was relieved. He wasn’t interested in Danielle, but he didn’t think she seemed like the type of girl to be pursuing crime the way she was. Then again, he didn’t expect it  of Aggie either. However, that was often how people got away with it, was by being inconspicuous. 

Discussing how much data Alex managed to steal versus how much Brendan might be able to steal if he pulled off a successful cyber heist permeated the rest of their discussion before Neal had to return at the end of his break. 

Relieved, he knew he’d have a great recording for Peter when he caught up to the agent in the evening. 

Since he’d already gotten Danielle’s confession, she’d been the easiest of all, now it was only a matter of making their arrests and he’d be released from the assignment! 

*******

Starting for an early day in the office, Neal tinkered with his catapult at his desk while the team was waiting for the warrants to come. If he was lucky, the case would come together and he’d be able to be done with the job before his shift even started.

Unfortunately, it reached a point where he needed to leave for his shift to avoid arousing suspicions with his coworkers, so he left the Bureau with a sigh of discontentment. He had at least a partial day to get through, but maybe the case would yet break before his shift was over? There was still something to hope for! 

Following his routine, Neal settled into his station and started the workday. He hadn’t seen any of their perpetrators, but that  didn’t mean they weren’t about. It was too busy to tell who was where or doing what. 

Getting yet another call for the morning, Neal was growing more and more tired of people’s behavior so his voice was losing ‘the smile’ that he was supposed to sport to make customers happy to talk to him. 

“Hello, I’d like to place an order please,” a pleasant woman’s voice responded to his script. That was uncharacteristically polite! 

Hopeful, Neal started through the routine, but the woman continued to be nice, polite, and she even made some pleasant conversation while a screen was loading. As their conversation continued through the order, Neal wished there were more customers like this one, people who were courteous and actually pleasant to work with. 

He’d encountered a few, but at best, most were just straight to the point of the reason for their call before moving on with their days. The rest behaved unnecessarily in some fashion or another. 

When it came time for the call to end, Neal found himself legitimately smiling in response to the woman. 

Just a single call had helped to improve his overall mood for the day. What would it be like if everyone behaved as she had? It didn’t take much to state one’s need and work with the associate on what could be done to resolve it without resorting to aggression, abuse, and manipulation tactics. 

Proceeding through his break with no sign of Danielle, which was unusual, Neal wondered if something had tipped them off and they were in  hiding? Either way, the chase wasn’t directly his problem; he wasn’t an FBI agent after all. 

Back to work, Neal got another call that stood out from his day, but he wondered if the person was just bored or if they were off some med or another. 

The call had started out normal enough, but after a few moments, the conversation had deviated to the caller carrying both sides of the conversation by themselves. “

“May I have your name? You may not. We have your phone number from the caller ID; it will be reported as a prank caller. I don’t care! Is there any I can help with related to our company? No!”

Who called toll free numbers and  pranked people so much to not only know the general responses but to have scripted a whole variety of reactions and then responses to those reactions? Unable to speak and with nothing legitimate to the business going on, Neal didn’t feel the need to listen to the person’s ramblings so he disconnected the call. 

Sure, it meant going back to the drill of calls coming through with one right after another, but at least it wasn’t a trip through crazy town! 

*******

It wasn’t until after lunch that things got exciting. 

First, Neal noticed a disturbance as light reflected on the black government SUVs that pulled up outside, but it wasn’t until the large group of FBI entered the building and met the management up front that the greater mass of the building became aware that something was going on.

This caused a lot of associates to pull their lines and stand up to see what was going on. It was like watching a bunch of  Meerkats with the first row being the first to react as they heard the FBI talking to the manager while their reactions generated more curiosity until work had nearly come to a standstill in the building with everyone looking to see what was happening. 

Second, the power went out, but it seemed to be too convenient for it to be a natural occurrence. Someone must have manipulated the power in the back. Probably Aggie providing a means of  escape since she was the senior associate and contact with the most familiarity with the building. That meant that Alex and Danielle would also be looking for a means to get away if they were in the building. 

Knowing the building better than Peter and the team, Neal left his station and worked his way through the cubicles looking for the area where Danielle liked to sit. 

He was instructed to return to his seat and stay put, but he ignored the lead associate and waved Diana over to him. 

The lead had a flashlight so he could see that she was surprised and began to realize that he might be more than he appeared. 

Directing Diana towards Danielle’s preferred spot, Neal left her to pursue her suspect while he headed for the break room. 

Alex would most likely try to escape out the rear since he spent most of his personal time on the patio while Aggie liked the side exit closest to where she parked her car. 

Catching Peter and Jones along the way, Neal led them along with him before directing Jones out the side door. 

“Aggie will most likely have taken that route. It’s by the juncture box and  it’s closest to her car,” Neal spoke with more authority than he intended to put off, but he was the one who had been working here with these people. 

Jones didn’t question him and simply followed his direction while radioing for assistance from additional agents to make sure she didn’t get away from them. 

Peter looked slightly surprised to see Neal handling the situation the way he was, but he didn’t make any comment as they continued in pursuit of Alex. 

He was the most likely one to react or put up a physical fight, but Neal didn’t think he’d have any skills to be overly concerned about. It wasn’t like the guy was an agent himself or had their level of training. 

Finding the man on the back patio as expected, Neal was surprised to realize that Alex didn’t know what was going on. Apparently, Aggie had hit the power and ditched leaving her compatriots to fend for  themselves in the confusion. 

Calling him by name and revealing his badge, Peter stated that Alex was under arrest and started to list his crimes. 

Throwing his cigarette at Peter’s face, Alex clearly hoped to give himself an extra second towards escapee, but Neal simply reached out and grabbed it reflexively. He’d trained with knives and a cigarette could only burn him a little which wasn’t as dangerous as getting cut or poisoned. 

“Thanks, Neal,” Peter blinked in surprise briefly before lunging forward to catch Alex. 

Although Alex tried to fight, he was quickly outmaneuvered and cuffed on the ground. 

“I thought you were one of us, Brendan!” Alex accused Neal like it was his fault he’d gotten into trouble. 

“It’s Neal, and no, I’m not one of you. I work for the FBI.” Neal clarified as much as Peter knew, but he was glad that Peter didn’t point out his consulting status. 

“Your stories, those were legitimate hacker legends. How could you know about them if you weren’t really involved?” Alex questioned which had Peter turning to him curiously with a raised eyebrow showing his own questions. 

Smiling at Peter, Neal teased without admitting to anything. “I know people, I’ve had friends, and everyone has a past. But that doesn’t mean I did the hacks, I just know who did and might have been around to see them done.” He’d actually done a few of the ones he’d mentioned, but the rest were courtesy  of Chuck’s Piranha activities and stories of other fraternity brothers from their university days. There had been plenty of pranks and hack off competitions where Chuck had always reigned supreme. 

“Piranha did most of those,” Alex further elaborated which meant Peter would interrogate him later. 

“Possible, I know he was good. Anyone in the school who knew about hacking skills knew he was king. I was just his friend. And no, Peter, I’m not going to elaborate, he’s another agency’s problem since he learned his parents’ legacy and followed in their footsteps.” And that was as much as he’d say on the subject, more than he should have really, but there wasn’t anything that could be traced to his Larkin identity or Chuck’s identities. 

Shaking his head, Peter knew he wasn’t going to get anything more, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try provided the opportunity. 

While the team dealt with their arrests, Neal was relieved to go back inside. The power was back on but things were still stagnated as the activities were far too interesting for anyone to work through. 

Passing Hughes as he talked to the manager, Neal was directed to get his things as his assignment was done. 

Thrilled, Neal had been looking forward to this since the beginning of the assignment! 

Going back to his desk, Neal picked up the few things that he’d brought with him. 

While he was doing so, his neighbor asked him if he was leaving. “Like the guy the other day, he just said he was done and left in the middle of his shift with his phone running and everything?” 

“No, the power was off so my systems automatically logged off, and I never came to work here long term in the first place.” Neal didn’t elaborate that he worked with the FBI, but it was obvious when Price caught him as he walked by. 

“Are you done, Neal? I think we’re heading back to the office.” 

Ignoring the associates who were staring at him and gossiping amongst themselves, Neal confirmed. “Hughes is talking to the manager so my role here is officially done.” Neal put on his jacket as he walked out with Price. They weren’t particularly friends, but they were coworkers, so they could both appreciate the conclusion to a case. 

*******

With their part of the case finished, Neal was sitting in the conference room with the team again. The sky was clear, but it was bitter cold outside so they were all glad to be inside with their cups of hot coffee. They were waiting for another routine morning meeting, but a few agents hadn’t been able to make it up yet. 

“So, how was it working in customer service?” an agent asked Neal. 

“Miserable, I’ve had my experience; I don’t need six months to understand what it’s like or how to behave,” Neal answered while referencing comments he’d heard associates making, that everyone should spend at least a little while working such jobs so that they'd behave better for having been in the associate’s shoes. 

“Yeah, I don’t miss it either,” the agent surprised him. Someone had experience and they weren’t sent in? “I did that kind of work for a few years in college. It helped pay the bills and worked around my class schedule, but it was miserable!” 

“I flipped burgers for a few years. At least dealing with customers over the phone doesn’t include being splashed with boiling hot grease!” Another agent piped up from the other end of the table. 

“Have you ever worked retail? I’ve been run over by carts, spit on, and had change thrown into my face. That isn’t mentioning the behavior that you get over the phones, but in person where a big guy can tower over you while screaming at you.” A third agent joined the conversation while generalizing some of the ill-treatment she’d received in her work history. 

“Personally, I did telemarketing. We got treated horribly in most calls, especially if our shifts coincided with when people were eating or trying to go to bed. However, every once in awhile, we’d get someone who would just lay the phone down  and go about something. Since we weren’t allowed to hang up, we’d just use the time to read or chat with a neighbor if they were in a similar situation.” A fourth contributed to the topic. 

As the conversation took off, the generalization became that most people work demeaning jobs at some point in their life, and it didn’t matter what industry or form, they all got mistreated in some fashion or another. 

When the meeting began, Neal was actually relieved to be assigned a pile of mortgage fraud cases. 

His lack of complaint raised suspicions. 

“I’ll take mortgage fraud over customer service... nice and quiet mortgage fraud.” Neal nodded to the understanding but amused smiles as he picked up his pile and retreated to his desk to work. 

Settling in, Neal realized something. His experience had made him one of the team in another fashion. Now he had his own demeaning work experience to complain about along with the rest of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone, for reading, leaving kudos, commenting/reviewing, and following :D
> 
> I’ve never heard of theft like this occurring, there are security measures in place so maybe it happened at some point in the past or they’re just preventative measures to discourage someone from trying, but it was the best reasoning I could think of for Neal being placed undercover. Neal’s generalized experiences on the phones are based on my own real experiences through years of Customer Service work, but I moved into senior specialized areas as a defense against some of it even though that means I have to diffuse and investigate those more challenging situations. I tried to add things I’ve heard of happening in my call center along with a general mixture of customer encounters; not everyone is horrible or a scammer, most are general transactions while a few are pleasures to work with. Then the agent’s experience in retail in the end discussion is mostly based on my sister’s experience, and the rest of the jobs are based on things I’ve heard with no experience backing them. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this tribute to my working history written to celebrate the termination of my employment. I don’t know what the future will hold, but like Neal, I hope to be leaving the industry behind for something more suited to me. 
> 
> Next week I plan to post "A Dinosaur Game" as a tribute to the coworkers I left behind :D

**Author's Note:**

> I officially gave my notice at work today. A surreal and bittersweet feeling. However, as planned, this is the beginning of the first story I wanted to post starting the day I gave notice. I will be posting the rest of the story as I can over the next however many days it takes to post it around everything going on. Then I'll begin the other story celebrating the coworkers I'll be leaving behind. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I've never heard of anything like the crime used here happening, it's just the best I could come up with for the situation, so I don't want to cause any undue concern. I'll have more about the inspiration for this story at the end.


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